


Something A Little Alien

by Opal_Lakes



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Basically various humans encounter Steven's not so human characteristics, Connies got a best friend and her parents are shook, Drabble Collection, F/M, Fluff, Garnet is just vibin', Greg has a heart attack, Open for suggestions, Parts are dialogue heavy at times, Set around Season 1 so theyre both babies™, Short fics that are connected but not really referenced, dorky kids being dorky kids
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-08
Updated: 2020-01-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:14:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22176121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Opal_Lakes/pseuds/Opal_Lakes
Summary: It's hard to look at Steven and remember that he is not entirely human, and occasionally the humans in his life get a sudden reminder and that can be a little...jarring, to say the least.
Relationships: Connie Maheswaran & Steven Universe, Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe, Doug Maheswaran & Steven Universe, Greg Universe & Steven Universe, Priyanka Maheswaran & Steven Universe
Comments: 67
Kudos: 423





	1. Inhuman Strength

**Author's Note:**

> Priyanka discovers something peculiar about Connie's new friend.
> 
> Note: I'm super dyslexic and tried my hardest to make sure there are no mistakes, but that's basically impossible for me so sorry if you find any obvious mistakes! I tried my best ♥

Priyanka wasn’t too sure what to make of Steven Universe just yet.

According to Connie, her new friend was some half-alien with magical powers that she had met at the beach. Doug laughed about it when they were alone, chalking it up to a creative imagination and Priyanka figured as much. It was only natural for a child to occupy their minds with fantasy stories to entertain themselves.

But then suddenly Connie seemed so eager to spend all her free time down at the beach with her new strange friend. Priyanka didn’t know what to think when Connie would come back with some story from Steven’s guardians, tall tales of dangerous Earth-saving adventures that Priyanka found hard not to scoff at. It was one thing to enjoy these fantasy stories but it was another thing entirely to actually start to believe them.

Eventually, Connie asked if Steven could come over during the weekend, promising to finish all of her homework and practice her violin all morning before Steven came over and that was quite hard to say no too when she looked up at her with pleading eyes. It would have been cruel to deny her friend from coming over and Priyanka would be lying if she said she was intrigued by meeting a boy with such strange stories surrounding him.

Connie was buzzing that entire morning, digging through her bookshelves and piling books high for her to show Steven later before tidying the rest of her room, ready to host guests, she even prepared a plate of carrot sticks and hummus for later. Priyanka watched from afar as her daughter hurried around, getting everything ready for when Steven came.

And when he did Priyanka was more than a little surprised.

She didn’t know what she expected really, she knew the stories she had heard were all childish make-believe but she hadn’t expected someone so…normal looking.

He was small and polite and always called her Dr Maheswaran and always seemed to be smiling. He followed Connie around like a puppy, sticking to her heels as she gave him the tour around the house before leading him up to her room. Priyanka hoped that Connie remembered their little open door rule.

From downstairs, she could hear they giggling, hushing talking and she imagined them passing her books back and forth and Priyanka was quite happy knowing that Connie had a friend that shared her literacy interests. Priyanka went about with her usual business, busying herself with her work as the two children occupied themselves upstairs and only occasionally poked her head in to check on them and bring them their snacks when they be too distracted to notice they had missed lunch.

Priyanka had been going through her planner when the pair came crashing down the stairs, Connie in the lead and looking somewhat concern as she hurried over to Priyanka.

“Have you seen a copy of Arcane Ritual? Steven let me borrow it but I can’t find it anywhere!”

Priyanka tried to think but couldn’t for the life of her remember what book Connie was referring too, the number of books Connie had with strange fantasy names were too many to recall. She closed her planner with a sigh and climbed to her feet, ready to help Connie in her search.

“What does the cover look like?”

“It’s a thin book with a picture of a peacock made out of fire on the front!” Steven was quick to supply, partially hidden behind Connie as he stared up at Priyanka. a nervous air about him as he clutched the front at the bottom of his shirt.

“I haven’t seen anything like that but I’m sure it’s around here somewhere, where was the last place you had it?”

“I was reading it down here the other night but I’m pretty sure I put it back on my bookshelf!”

She looked between the two for a moment before letting out a huff “I’ll look down here, why don’t you go check your bedroom again?”

Connie nodded before spinning on her heels and running up the stairs but to Priyanka’s surprise, Steven stayed where he was, watching Connie hurry off before turning back to Priyanka, fiddling with the hem of his shirt.

“Can I help you look down here? I don’t want to snoop around Connie’s room” Priyanka blinked at him in surprise.

“Of course.”

Priyanka immediately started to shuffle around the living room, checking under the couch cushions and behind their nice decorative pillows for any sign of the book. Steven lingered behind her but was quick to follow suit not long after and began to look around the various bookshelves and poked through all the books and décor that lined the shelves.

They searched around the room for the book, but neither of them found the lost book and there weren’t many places for it to have disappeared to so after checking between the couch cushions for the third time, Priyanka sighed. She pinched the bridge of her nose and turned to look down at Steven from where he was kneeling in front of the TV, carefully checking through their tidy row of DVDs.

“She’s probably left it in her room and forgot” Priyanka hummed, lips pursed together as she made her way over to the stairs.

“Maybe it’s under the rug?” Steven chimed in as she walked passed. He bent over to press his cheek against the carpet, going to lift up the rug and take a peek when he suddenly exclaimed “ _Oh!_ I found it!”

Priyanka paused, already halfway up the stairs at Steven’s sudden shout “Oh? Where is it?”

“Under the couch!” He lifted his face up from the ground and grinned up at her “It’s super far back though! I don’t think I can reach it.”

Priyanka made her way back downstairs, glancing around the room for anything that could push the stubborn book out from under the couch, but there was nothing that could be useful.

“Let me go grab a coat hanger, the couch is solid wood and I won’t want to pull a muscle trying to lift it” She gave a light chuckle, ready to go to the kitchen to the laundry room to grab a coat hanger but Steven suddenly jumped up.

“I got it!”

Priyanka could have laughed at the thought of such a small child thinking he could lift such a heavy thing but Steven rushed over to the couch before Priyanka could stop him, running over to the front of the couch and bent down, and with one mighty lift, picked up the couch with ease.

Priyanka sputtered at the sight of Steven, the short and cute and cheery child that her daughter had befriended, holding the heavy couch above his head without breaking a sweat. He turned to grin at her, stars in his eyes as he shuffled back slightly and then shifted the weight of the couch onto his one shoulder before bending down carefully. He snatched up the book with a grin and gently set the couch back into its proper place.

“Here it is!” He cheered, holding the book up to show Priyanka, but she was too busy gasping to get out the right words to ask him _how could he possibly do that_.

Tiny feet hammered against the stairs as Connie rushed down, hopping the last step to beam at Steven “I _knew_ I left it in here!”

“Did you want to keep reading it?” Steven held out the book for her to take, but she quickly pushed it back towards him.

“I basically finished it, you should take it back before I lose it again.”

The pair shared a giggle and Priyanka finally manage to overcome her shock.

“H… _how_ ” She stammered “How did you lift that?”

Steven shrugged casually as if he didn’t do something that a child his age should be possible to do but, thankfully, Connie came to her aid.

“Steven’s half-Gem remember?” She was quick to interject “So he’s like…super strong!”

“Super strong!” Steven agreed with a grin “I can even lift my dad above my head now!”

“That’s-” Priyanka tried to think of a word that didn’t sound insulting “ _remarkable?_ ”

“That’s not even the coolest part” Connie elbowed Steven softly “You should show her your shield.”

“Oh!” Steven face lit up “Hang on I think I can…I just gotta-”

“It’s fine” Priyanka interrupted, holding up her hands “You can show me…next time?”

“Next time!” Steven agreed.

“Come on Steven, I want to show you one last book before you go home!” Connie waved at him, gesturing him to follow as she bounced up the stairs, Steven closely behind.

Steven gasped “The one with the immortal witch and her familiar?”

“Yeah, that one! You can borrow it if you want, I think you’ll really like the main character! They’re kinda like you-”

Their voices were inaudible as they tumbled back into Connie’s room, leaving Priyanka well and truly confused as she stood in the middle of the living room.

Maybe she had the wrong idea of Steven, and maybe she should take her daughter and her strange stories a little more seriously.


	2. Food and Diet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Doug gets a midday snack with Connie and her new friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: I'm super dyslexic and tried my hardest to make sure there are no mistakes, but that's basically impossible for me so sorry if you find any obvious mistakes! I tried my best ♥

Doug had just finished his shift when he got a message from Priyanka. A simple text warning him that she was covering a second shift when her colleague didn’t show up to work and asked him to please pick Connie up from Steven’s, she didn’t want Connie riding around on some magical lion just because she was too busy to pick her up herself.

So Doug turned his car right around and headed towards Beach City without complaint, cheery tunes playing from the radio as he drove through the quiet streets. It was a pleasant day, the sun was shining bright and the sky was clear and blue and Doug didn’t blame Connie for spending her free day at the beach rather than being stuck at home.

He pulled his car up onto the curb just outside the doughnut shop and pulled out his phone, ready to call Connie so that she could come meet him; he didn’t want to walk to Steven’s house himself and risk getting sand in his work shoes. He began to fumble around with his phone, scrolling through his contacts when someone tapped against his window.

He jumped in his seat with a startled screech, his poor phone flying from his grasp and clattering somewhere in the footwell and out of his reach. He swung around as his hands fumbled around with his belt for his flashlight but was meant with the smiling faces of Connie and her friend, beaming at him through the glass.

“Oh!” Doug sighed a relief, winding down his window as he tried to regain his cool “You should be careful kids! I’m still in work mood, I could have seriously done some damage!”

“Sorry dad!” Connie apologized with a tender smile while Steven laughed, hiding his beaming grin behind a bag of something so greasy the paper was see-through and practically dripping.

“Hi Mr Maheswaran!” Steven cheered, loud and peppy as usual.

“Why are you here dad?” Connie suddenly looked at him with fear in her eyes “Did something happen with mom?”

“Oh no!” Doug was quick to reassure her with a smile and a gentle hand on top of her head, messing with her hair “She’s just covering another shift at work so she asked me to come get you.”

“Oh” Her tense shoulders quickly fell, her tight grip on her can of sugar-free soda lightening up.

“Wait does that mean you have to go home now?” Steven looked between Connie and Doug with sudden watery eyes “But we’ve barely got to hang out!”

Doug shot him a smirk “Didn’t you spend all morning together?”

“It’s still not long enough” Steven gave a sad sigh and Doug repressed a laugh at the poor boy’s expression.

He turned off his car with a twist of his keys and climbed out of his seat, his knees popping from the action and he tried not to wince from it. He stretched his arms above his head with a painful grunt, rubbing at a knot on his back as he looked back down at the pair in front of him “Tell you what, I’ve been craving a doughnut, so if you don’t tell your mother about me eating sugar, you guys can hang out for a little longer.”

“Yes!” Steven and Connie both threw their arms up with a cheer, bright grins on their faces.

Doug gave one last chuckle before he headed over towards the Big Donut, with Connie and Steven following him closely behind as they chattered away, something about a new movie they both they were excited to see.

They ran to sit on one of the tables outside the little shop, not sparing Doug a glance as he headed inside, far too invested in their discussion. He headed inside, grabbing a large cup of semi-decent coffee before he made his way to the counter. He set it down and ordered three doughnuts from a rather grumpy looking teen. Dumping the small amount of change he was handed back into the tip jar before grabbing his bag of sweet treats and coffee and headed back outside.

“Sugar express has arrived!” He dropped the bags onto the table between the pair, interrupting their conversation “Try not to get any cavities, dentist bills are a nightmare.”

“Thanks dad!” Connie grabbed at the bag and peeked inside, Steven leaning over her shoulder to get a look himself.

She handed Doug his usual order, a doughnut covered in chocolate icing and overfilled with cream. He took it while a thank you before quickly to take a messy bite, cream covering his fingers and making a sticky mess. He took a sit in the empty chair opposite the pair, wiping away the mess on his shirt to deal with later as he watched Connie pick apart her bear claw while Steven nibbled away at his strawberry iced doughnut. Doug didn’t know what Steven would of liked, but the strawberry iced was pink and covered in cute little star sprinkles and it just seemed perfect for the kid, it matched his shirt perfectly after all!

He was halfway through his doughnut when Doug noticed the disregarded crumpled up bag next to Steven and if he wasn’t for his sugar covered fingers Doug would of slapped himself.

“Oh Steven, you’re not going to get sick from all this junk food are you?”

Steven paused, mouth full of pastry and hands covered in icing “No, I eat this stuff all the time!”

“All that grease and sugar doesn’t make you sick?” Doug huffed a breath through his nose “Oh to be young again.”

Connie gave a chuckle, picking away at the last few bites of her treat with mild interest “To be fair, I can’t eat the stuff you do Steven.”

“I guess I do eat a lot of junk” Steven pondered to himself for a moment “but I’ve never really been sick before because of food, plus Pearl doesn’t mind as long as I eat my vegetables at dinner.”

“I think your gem has something to do with it” Connie looked down at his stomach “I don’t think a normal human could eat the stuff you do without needing to go to the doctors.”

Steven hummed, tugging up his shirt lightly to show off a bright pink gem sticking out from where his bellybutton should be and Doug tried hard not to stare at the strange sight. He knew of it, vaguely, but he still couldn’t help but gawk at the thing. Did it hurt? That couldn’t have been comfortable.

“I guess that makes sense, I mean it's on my stomach!”

“I would love to make a magic stomach” Connie gave a laugh, dumping the remains of her bear claw into the bag to be thrown away “Unlimited sugar and trans fats!”

“Trans fats!” Steven cheered, holding up the last bit of his doughnut in the air before he threw it into his mouth “D’licious!”

Connie snickered away at Steven as he struggled to chew his too big of a bite Doug hope that Steven was being truthful. The last thing he needed was for Steven to go home sick to his stomach thanks to all that greasy and sugar. Doug didn’t need to get a call from his parents demanding why their son was suddenly sick thanks to him.

Doug finished off his coffee as the two continued to chat, wide grins on their face as they discussed theories on the next Dogcopter movie. He was slow as he sipped away at his coffee.

He took one last swig of his drink - now unpleasantly cool- and sighed “Looks like it’s time to go home now Connie.”

Steven blew a raspberry in disappointment but the two of them got to their feet nevertheless, trailing behind Doug as he walked them back to his car. Doug climbed into his seat, ignoring the two as Steven gave Connie a hug goodbye and Connie fought to not blush -and failed.

“Bye Connie! Bye Mr Maheswaran!” Steven hopped back, waving his hand frantically above his head as Connie climbed into the car and Doug pulled out from his parking spot and drove off.

Connie twisted in her seat to wave back at him through her window, only stopping once they turned the corner and Steven disappeared from view.

“He really won’t get sick right?” Doug asked once she righted herself “I really don’t want to be responsible for your friend getting ill.”

Connie shook her head “I’ve seen him eat three double doughnut cheeseburgers with bacon once because Amethyst dared him too.”

“Oh,” Doug tried not to cringe at that imagine “That’s gross.”

“Yeah” Connie hummed back with a shrug as if that was a normal thing for Steven to do “I’m pretty sure I’ve seen him eat mud too.”

“You really weren’t kidding when you said he was an alien huh?”

“Half-alien” Connie corrected gently “He’s just a bit…peculiar.”

“Yeah” Doug hummed thoughtful “Peculiar.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2! And it's actually on time! (How very unlike me)
> 
> Thank you for all the kudos, bookmarks, and commenters! I would have been happy to get a couple of comments but 14? Oh my gosh ;o; I don't really wanna spam the comments with all my thank yous to every comment for chapter 1 but dang I might have to stop that rule cause y'all are so sweet thank you for leaving such nice messages!
> 
> Also, I'm totally gonna do Cool kids (maybe around music? I feel like no normal preteen can just burst into song that he's made from the top of his head like dang?) and Lars and Sadie! So thank you for your suggestions ♥
> 
> Next chapter will be Greg and Steven's resilence and should be out around Saturday? (maybe sooner?) so stay tuned ~
> 
> Comment with any suggestions or if you just liked it, it makes my week! ♥


	3. Resilience

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greg just wanted to spend some time with his son, that's all he wanted. Now he's down a pizza and suffering a heart attack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: I'm super dyslexic and tried my hardest to make sure there are no mistakes, but that's basically impossible for me so sorry if you find any obvious mistakes! I tried my best ♥

With a noticeable pep in his step, Greg left Fish Stew Pizza with a box of something fresh and greasy in his hands, kicking the door behind him before he began his journey towards the Temple.

Steven had been so excited to show him how well he could summon his shield and Greg couldn’t be more proud and had decided to spoil Steven with a night of fast food, bad movies, and good music in celebration. He had been looking forward today for a while now, and the Gems had even promised they would go off on some gem-related business so that Greg and Steven had the house all to themselves.

He whistled a tune as he hurried down the boardwalk, waving at people as he passed by with a flash of a smile as the sun began to set just across the water. It was a beautiful sight; the sky all pink and orange as the sun began it’s slow descent into the ocean, practically blinding as it sparkled in the warm light. Greg couldn’t wait to eat dinner with his son, sitting on the pouch as they watch the sky go dark while they stuff their face with pizza before going inside to watch old movies until both of them fell asleep.

Greg had just reached the beach when the ground beneath his feet shook, a sudden tremble that ran up his spine and the warm feeling was suddenly replaced with something cold and fearful. A deafening roar came seconds later, and somewhere around the cliff face came an explosion of sand as a large lumping figure cashed down onto the beach, howling in rage.

Greg clutched his pizza box safely to his chest as the thing lumbered onto its thrashing tendrils, kicking up sand and surf as it turned and suddenly it was staring down Greg from where he was frozen in the sand. It gave a snarl before throwing itself forward and Greg yelped, ready to turn on his heels and run away as fast as his flip flop would carry him but the monster barely made it five feet before something appeared out of nowhere and hit it with enough force to send it tumbling back and into the shore.

“Hi dad!” Came Steven’s cheery yell as he appeared into view, stumbling around the cliff with his shield in one hand, waving the other one wildly above his head, a bright grin on his face.

Garnet was quick to appear behind him, re-summoning her right gauntlet and clutched her fists. She lifted her hand up once again and sent her gauntlet flying. It shot forward in a stream of smoke and smacked into to back of the thing’s head and it stumbled forward clumsily, unbalanced by its massive head and uncontrollable tentacles.

“You should go take Greg somewhere safe” Garnet stared up at the monster with all its wiggling tentacles and sharp snapping teeth and readjusted her visors “Don’t want him getting hurt.”

“Are you going to be okay fighting this one?” Steven looked up at him with concern but giggled when Garnet reached down and messed with his hair fondly.

“You can throw me a shield if I really need it” She flashed him a tender smile before quickly leaping towards the monster, fist raised and ready to strike.

Steven quickly ran over to Greg’s side, a wide grin on his face as his shield disappeared in a burst of sparkles “Hey dad! You’re here early!”

“Yeah” Greg could feel sweat begin to drip down his face as he watched the battle from the sidelines and wondered when this had become Steven’s normal “I figured we could enjoy the sunset while we ate.”

Steven’s eyes lit up, wide grin gracing his face “Oh that’s perfect! Sorry about…well, you know.”

Steven made a vague gesture over his shoulder towards the fighting where Garnet was currently being thrown around by one of the monster’s tentacles, with poor Garnet looking a little bit miffed by it all. Greg couldn’t help but flinch when she was suddenly released, sent spiralling through the air and headed straight towards the rocky cliff face. She managed to right herself mid-air, slamming into the rock feet first and launched herself back at the beat with a fearsome battle cry.

Greg wanted nothing more than to take Steven by the hand and drag him as far away as he could, maybe he could take him back to Fish Stew Pizza and just eat dinner there and go back home once the fighting had cleared. It seemed Steven didn’t seem to consider the potential danger they were in and began to ramble on about a new game he had started playing that week.

“-I haven’t managed to finish the main quest yet because there’s a huge boss fight at the end and I’m not very strong but-!” Steven bounced on the balls of his feet, lost in his own head “I’ve found a guide online that tells you where you can find these cool secret weapons and I’m this close to finding this super cool sword! It’s called the Flaming Poisoning Raging Sword Of Doom and when I find it I’ll finally be able to-”

Steven’s words were suddenly cut short and before Greg could even blink his son was sent flying, a pink blur and a sudden yelp and he was gone.

“Steven!” Greg screamed, pizza falling into the sand as he watched his son be swung around by one of the tentacles like he weighed nothing before it let go, and Greg could only watch helplessly as Steven was suddenly sent through the air, spiralling out of control as he flew across the beach before finally crashing down the shore. The beach exploded, sand flying in all directions in a plume of smoke and Greg could do nothing more but stare.

He turned to look at Garnet, expecting something from her, but the gem simply remained where she was, clinging to the monster’s face as she slammed her fist over and over into the thing’s face, her gauntlet digging in deep into the space between its eyes. It gave a howl of fury, tendrils swinging as it tried to swipe her off, but Garnet clung hard to its face, refusing to budge as she hammered her gauntlet’s down. It took a few more punches before Garnet finally hit it in a soft spot and the monster gave one final guttural screeched before it slumped, its body exploded in a burst of smoke.

It cleared within seconds as Garnet fell feel back to her feet, quickly bending over to scoop up the red gemstone. With a quick bubble and a tap, the gem was sent off to someplace Greg didn’t really know nor cared to ask.

Now that the battle was over and the beach was safe Greg wasted no time as he sprinted over to where Steven had been tossed so carelessly, stumbling as his flip flops caught in the soft sand.

“Steven!” Greg cried out, his poor heart pounding as he grew closer to the small crater where his son had crashed.

His panic, turned out, was rather unnecessary.

Steven’s head was poking out of the hole, blinking at Greg as he finally stumbled his way over, slumping over to rest his hands on his knees as he panted and wheezed. Steven looked up at him and flashed him a smile as if he hadn't just be tossed through the air like he weighed nothing, as if he hadn’t almost given his poor father a heart attack.

“Are you okay?” Steven asked as he scrambled his way out of the crater.

Greg was quick to check Steven over, hands on his shoulders as he twisted and turned him side to side to look for any potential broken bones or scratches, but there wasn’t so much as a bruise.

“Am I okay? I wasn’t the one thrown halfway across the beach! I should be asking you that!”

“Oh I’m fine, this kinda thing happens all the time” Steven shrugged casually but that did nothing to quell Greg’s pounding heart.

Heavy footsteps quickly alerted them to Garnet as she made her way over, brushing clumps of sand from her hair with a flick of her now weaponless hands. Greg had expected some kind of concern from her, but she simply looked down at Steven with pursed lips, arms folding across her chest as she spoke in a soft voice “I thought you would have used your bubble.”

“I thought I had more time before I hit the ground, that thing was strong!”

“Not anymore” Garnet smiled, fixing her visors before she turned back to Greg “Sorry to scare you.”

Greg took a gulping breath, trying to stand straight and act like he hadn’t been on the urge of a panic attack as he turned back to Steven. He was quick to check him over once more, but the only thing that seemed wrong with Steven was the sand he was struggling to shake free from his jeans. He bent down with a heavy sigh, his knees clicking in protest but Greg ignored his discomfort to run his fingers through his son’s hair, brushing away the clinging clumps of wet sand. Steven laughed at the feeling and weakly pushed him away with a whiny “Dad!”

“Sorry about your pizza.”

Greg twisted his head to look at the sorry pile of cheese and pepperoni half-buried in the sand, the seagulls already fighting over it, wings flapping as they squawked back and forth. He gave a sigh and shrugged at Garnet.

He opened his mouth to reassure her but Steven suddenly perked up, ducking under his hands to look over Greg’s shoulder to see the greasy mess and gasped, loud and dramatic “No! Not the Pizza! This is the worst day ever!”

“I’ll buy another one kiddo” Greg climbed back to his feet, resting a hand on top of Steven’s head “I’ll even get you a doughnut for dessert!”

That quickly wiped that sad look from his face, his eyes lighting back up at the mention of a sugary treat and he cheered, thrusting his hands up before throwing himself forward to wrap them around Greg’s legs with a happy cry of him being the best dad ever!

“You want to come with Garnet?” Greg couldn’t fight back the smile that suddenly appeared on his face, turning his eyes away from Steven to the towering gem next to him “I’ll even buy you a doughnut.”

She hummed thoughtfully “Next time.”

She turned back to Steven, reaching down to pat at his hair “Enjoy your pizza, you’re having a bath when you get home.”

“Aw” Steven pouted, his cheek squished against Greg’s leg as he looked up at Garnet with sad eyes, but the Gem didn’t falter.

“Have fun” She turned abruptly on her heels and began to retreat back towards the house, Steven waved at her frantically as she hurried away.

“Pizza time!” Steven pushed himself of Greg’s legs with a laugh, fists pumping up above his head.

“Pizza time!” Greg agreed with an equal amount of enthusiasm and took Steven’s hand when it was offered to him and the pair made their way over to the boardwalk. Steven chattered away happily about how cool Garnet was when she was fighting that corrupted gem and how he got to come with her to help! (even though all he did was get through across a beach, but he was still there and involved!). He listened to his cheery chatter, nodding when it was appropriate and tried not to look at the messy crater they were leaving behind or the smoking sand left by Garnet’s gauntlets or remember the sound Steven had made when he hit the ground while he watched on helplessly.

It was hard to forget such a thing, but Steven was bouncing at his side without a care in the world and completely unaffected by the fight that had just taken place, too excited about winning the fight and the promise of pizza to notice his father’s fears.

Greg looked down at his son, watching his happily chatter away as he dragged him by his hand and tried to forget the ache in his heart. It was times like these that Greg had to remember that his son, so small and soft and cute, was a gem and could certainly take a few hits.

That didn’t make seeing it happen any easier though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was supposed to post this Thursday! But ended up getting busy making travel plans for my sister's birthday and postponed it til before Saturday, but then I got food poisoning on Thursday night and got painful sick at work Friday, I was at work today too but they finally showed me pity and let me go home after an hour so here's chapter 3! Late but here!
> 
> Please comment if you liked this chapter, I'm mad sick and need some nice things to read while I lie in bed feeling like death ah ;u;
> 
> Next chapter is Connie and ageing! My sister's birthday is next Friday and we're both travelling for it so hopefully? I'll find time to edit and post the next chapter before then? Not 100% guaranteed but I'll try!
> 
> Hit me up on Tumblr if you like! I'm Opal-lakes! ♥


	4. Aging

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connie struggles with a recent growth spurt and Steven doesn't learn from his mistakes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: I'm super dyslexic and tried my hardest to make sure there are no mistakes, but that's basically impossible for me so sorry if you find any obvious mistakes! I tried my best ♥

Connie had had a little bit of a grown spurt recently, which meant all of her dresses and skirts were now uncomfortably short, falling at her mid-thighs and far too short for any potential fighting and wasn’t that just _great_. Her mother had promised to take her shopping a week again, but a busy work schedule had meant their shopping trip had been postponed multiple times and Connie was left to awkwardly wear jeans that ended above her ankles and too short dresses.

That particular morning, Connie had changed three times before finally letting herself get frustrated and snatched up a pair of bike shorts. They were tight around the waist and not the most appealing thing to wear in the middle of summer but Connie wasn’t planning on having to constantly hold down the hem of her skirt all day long.

She grabbed the rest of her things and hurried out the house, her parents had already left for work hours again so Connie just had to lock to door behind her and hop onto Lion, loyally waiting outside on her lawn. With a roar and a leap, the two crashed onto the soft sand outside of Steven’s house seconds later.

She gave Lion’s ear a loving scratch and jumped from his back, swinging her book bag over her shoulder before making her way up the wooden steps to his house.

She let herself inside, not bothering to knock when Steven had invited her over that morning anyway, and found the house empty of Steven or the other gems. After a quick search, Connie found the bathroom door open and Steven’s bedroom empty and she seriously doubted he would hide away somewhere in the temple, so she dumped her bag onto Steven’s bed and made her way up to the observatory.

It didn’t surprise her to find Steven hunched over the control panel, tapping away as his eyes scanned over the pink screen of strange diagrams and lines of Gem Glyph. Steven turned to grin at her the second the doors slid open, jabbing a finger against the panel and shutting off the screen.

“Connie!”

“Steven! Hey!” She hurried forward to meet him halfway, crashing into each other and arms tightly wrapping around the other.

“Wow!” Steven pulled back first, his wide smile taking over his face “Did you get taller?”

“Yeah, kind of” Connie gave a laugh, fighting back a blush that threatened to appear on her face as Steven stared at her, eyes sparkling.

Steven laughed with her and Connie didn’t realize how much she had missed the noise “That sucks, I enjoyed being taller than you for once.”

Steven made his way out the glass room and Connie was close behind as they made their way down to Steven’s room. Connie took each step one at a time while Steven, the show off that he was, hopped off the top step and floated his way down.

“You’ll probably have another growth spurt” Connie mused “You’ve only just turned 15 after all, so there’s plenty of time to grow! You’re probably going to wake up one day and be as tall as Garnet!”

“And if not I’ll just shapeshift!”

Connie gave Steven’s arm a quick swot the second he touched down on the ground, it wasn’t hard at all but that didn’t stop Steven from clutching at his arm as if he had been struck hard and gave a dramatic gasp. Connie simply rolled her eyes and carried on into Steven’s bedroom.

She flopped down to sit next to her bag and smiled up at him innocently as he stumbled into his room, a pout on his face as he clutched at him perfectly intact arm “I was just kidding! I don’t plan on _that_ anymore, just good ol’ natural puberty.”

“Yeah” Connie hummed, watching as Steven closed the door behind him and began to shift around his room in search of his jacket, something that Connie was sure would make him too hot in the heat of summer, but Steven refused to listen because _fashion Connie!_

As he busied about hunting through his closet, Connie couldn’t help but wonder if Steven _would_ get any taller; he had shot up not too long ago and stood a good few inches above her before her own little spurt. She could still recoil him calling her to spend the day at the beach, his voice all funny and excited and Connie _knew_ he was hiding something. She had arrived at the beach expecting some new fantastic gem thing that Steven wanted to show off, but found only Steven, sitting at the edge of the boardwalk and patting away at the sand between his legs in an attempt to make a sandcastle. She called out his name, running to meet him as he turned around, face splitting into a smile so impossibly big. He bounced up just as she reached him and caught her with a laugh as she jumped, crashing into his arms and letting herself be spun around, his strong arms securely around her.

At that moment she had two realizations; the first was how much she had missed Steven’s laugh, a tone deeper but still as comforting as ever, making her feel warm and light. The second was that her face was buried in his shoulder, eyes only just peeking out from over his shoulder and suddenly feeling quite small.

He had laughed at her expression and it felt so strange to have to look up at him; for him to lean down to whisper something in her ear, for her to lean to the side only to rest her head against his shoulder, his curly soft hair too high for her to reach. It was surreal and new but Connie couldn’t be happier! He was growing, like a normal teenager! The first sign of facial hair had been exciting, a promise that Steven was growing, just in his own weird way, but now he was tall, looking more like a teenager than an eight-year-old and Connie felt a flood of relief.

Connie couldn’t shake her anxiety since his birthday. The idea that Steven wouldn’t age like her, that she’ll grow up and Steven would stay the same had stuck with her, always lingering in the back of her mind. Connie could imagine him short with the cute pudgy face with a beard when they would be old and in their 30s and had to force herself to _stop thinking about it._

“Found it!” Steven suddenly jumped up, holding his varsity jacket above his head with a grin “You ready to go?”

Sucking in a breath, Connie nodded and grabbed for her bag, shrugging it onto her shoulder as Steven pulled on his jacket and danced past her. He stood, waiting patiently at the top of the stairs for her to join him before the pair headed off, walking side by side as they made their way over to start their sugar-fueled lunch of doughnuts and milkshakes, both feeling a little bit lighter now that they were together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a LOT shorter then I remember, and didn't really go too deep into the whole ageing thing so I had to add a good chuck to it but I'm out of my writing mood and I basically spent all day struggling with this on and off lmao
> 
> Sorry for the late update! I wanted to get it out before I left buuut things didn't work out and when I got back I had a lot of stuff to deal with ><
> 
> This is the last of the prewritten chapters! I already have plans to write chapters for Sadie+music (and a possible bonus story with Greg and one of my own fav headcanons), and something with the cool kids and something to do with his floating/healing powers! Thank you for the wonderful suggestions ^^
> 
> I love reading your comments! They seriously make my day and it's so nice to see people actually like something I worked hard on ;o; Feel free to comment with anymore suggestions ~
> 
> Hit me up on Tumblr if you like! I'm Opal-lakes! ♥


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